CULLMAN, Ala. – The Link of Cullman County is gearing up to host two Kindergarten Readiness Camps this month. Each is a five-day, two hours per day program designed to ease incoming kindergarteners who may not have been in any pre-school setting into a daily routine. The goal is to better equip them for things that will be encountered during the school day such as separation from a guardian, opening single-serve snacks and letter and number recognition.
“We know that the transition to kindergarten is often hard on both the child and the guardians, especially if the child has no pre-school experience or has never been away from their guardians,” said The Link of Cullman County Literacy Coordinator and Educational Enrichment Team Leader Dakota Trammell. “Kindergarten Readiness Camp was designed to make that transition easier on everyone involved.”
The Link has gone one step further in potentially ending the new scholars’ first-day jitters by partnering with four local schools as camp locations. This gives the nervous newbies a chance to walk the halls and become acquainted with the faces at their future schools, building relationships and rapport before classes begin.
Trammell shared, “Students are able to truly get a feel for what the school year will be like and interact with their potential teachers.”
During Kindergarten Readiness Camp, students will work on skills that will be used and learned in school. Much like a kindergarten setting, the classes will go in rotations, or “centers,” and work on basic skills like phonics, handwriting and pencil grip, counting skills and letter and number recognition. A “read-aloud” rotation is also added to the mix, ensuring students are practicing sitting quietly and listening, while growing reading comprehension skills.
Camps will provide pre-packaged snacks to students daily, allowing them to become familiar with opening and handling pre-packaged snacks and food items before school begins.
“Lindsey Ray at Weichert, Realtors- The Space Place is sponsoring this year’s snacks for all seven of our sites,” Trammell said. “We do a pre-packaged snack so students can work on opening those packages like they will have to do during their lunch and break time at school.”
The camps will be held at First United Methodist Church of Cullman, Hanceville Elementary School, First Baptist Church of Fairview, Welti Elementary School, Good Hope Baptist Church and West Point Elementary School July 15-19, from 10 a.m.-noon, and at Cold Springs Elementary School July 22-26, from 10 a.m.-noon.
Thanks to the Daniel Foundation of Alabama, The Link’s Kindergarten Readiness Camps are completely free. To register, parents and guardians can find and fill out the Google form pinned on The Link of Cullman County’s Facebook page or email dakotatrammell@linkingcullman.org. The deadline to register is July 7.
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